MOUNTAIN FLOWERS 239 



very tall under favourable circumstances, such as near water 

 and on the open sunshiny slopes, and its flowers, blue as 

 heaven itself, or very occasionally white, are funnel-form, the 

 tube being very short and having its throat nearly closed by 

 five flat lobes, which form a circular arching crest in the 

 centre. The tiny stamens, and the style with its minute capi- 

 tate stigma, are set inside this bright yellow circle, or '' eye." 

 It matters little, after all, whether these flowers are False 

 or True ; they are beautiful to look upon, and very fragrant, 



as they hold their ,^ „ . , 



-^ " Festival 



Of breaking bud and scented breath " 



high up in some alpine meadow, where the air is fresh and 

 wholesome and where the whole world seems full of won- 

 derful possibilities. 



£. Lappiila, or Stickseed, has much smaller leaves and very 

 tiny bright blue flowers, each individual blossom being little 

 larger than a pin's head. These flowers grow in close leafy- 

 bracted racemes, which are more or less one-sided, and when 

 in fruit it bears innumerable tiny burs. It is not indigenous. 



TALL LUNGWORT 



Mertensui paniculata. Borage Family 



Rough-pubescent. Stems: erect, branched above, the branches slender. 

 Leaves: thin, pinnately veined, those of the stem ovate-lanceolate, acu- 

 minate ; basal leaves ovate, rounded. Flowers, several-flowered in loose 

 terminal panicles ; calyx-lobes acute ; corolla funnel-form, crested in 

 the throat. 



The Tall Lungwort grows from one to three feet high, and 

 is one of the handsomest members of a family of coarse and 

 hairy plants. It has very showy blue flowers, their tubes 

 crested in the throat and the lobes only slightly spreading. 

 These grow in loose terminal clusters. 



Probably it is because there are so few really blue mountain 

 wild flowers that we specially prize this striking plant. On 



